World must act with urgency to tackle climate change: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged the world to act with urgency to tackle climate change and said India is facing the consequences of climate change, which is a result of global warming that came from prosperity and progress in an industrial age powered by fossil fuel.

"The choices the world makes here will have an impact on our development . Climate change is a major global challenge, but climate change is not our making. It is a result of global warming that came from prosperity and progress in an industrial age powered by fossil fuel," Prime Minister Modi said at the inauguration of the India pavilion at COP 21 here.

"We in India are facing the consequences today. We see it in the risks faced by our farmers, the changes in the weather pattern and the intensity of natural disasters. We are concerned about the rising ocean level that will threaten our 75,000km long coastline and 13,000 km of islands," Prime Minister Modi added.

"Agreement must lead us to restore balance between humanity and nature. Research and innovation in clean energy is a high priority. We want to make conventional energy cleaner and renewable energy cheaper," Prime Minister Modi said.

He also outlined the changes taking place in India and asserted that 40 percent of India's installed capacity will be based on non-fossil fuel by 2030.

Prime Minister Modi further said India has always been treated nature as its mother.

"The choices the people make are shaped by their culture and beliefs. In India nature has always been treated as its mother. Since ancient times we have seen humanity as a part of nature. We have always believed that nature does not exist for human race but that we can't exit without nature. So nature is mean to provide and nurture and not to exploit. When nature is in equilibrium, our world will be balanced. This is what we learnt from Rig veda," Modi said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the India pavilion at the global climate change conference here, showcasing the country's commitment to renewable energy and inaugurated the book 'parampara'. Prime Minister Modi said India looked at the Paris convention with both commitment and hope.